MESA, AZ – Halfway through the 2023 NAIA Men's Golf Championships, the UBC Thunderbirds find themselves within striking distance of top spot! Wednesday afternoon at the Las Sendas Golf Club the foursome of Hudson LaFayette, John Paul Kahlert, Dylan MacDonald and Aidan Schumer combined for a Wednesday-best score of -2 (286) and sit alone in second place, four shots back of the leaders from Keiser University. The 'Birds combined for a six-shot improvement compared to their Day 1 score of 294 and were the only school of the 30 participants to finish under par during Day 2.
TEAM LEADERBOARD
INDIVIDUAL LEADERBOARD
After an early start on Tuesday, the five competing Thunderbirds took to the course in the early afternoon. The previously mentioned four athletes, along with Mackenzie Bickell combined for 13 birdies and four eagles Wednesday along with just one double-bogey during a span of 90 holes.
The top individual score of the day for the blue and gold belonged to John Paul Kahlert. The Maple Ridge, B.C. product notched three birdies, and an eagle to finish with a -2 score of 70. Individually he sits +1 and tied for 13
th on the individual leaderboard.
Not to be outdone was North Vancouver's Hudson LaFayette who followed up his even par round of 72 Tuesday with a -2 outing today. He trails the tournament individual leader Robin Conlan (-5, Victoria) by just three strokes in the individual bracket. He led the way for UBC with five birdies to go against three bogeys.
Aidan Schumer and and Dylan MacDonald both finished +1 for the day, but took different paths to get there. Schumer finished his round with three birdies and four bogeys while MacDonald had six bogies, but those were offset by a team-leading two eagles and a birdie.
The fifth player on the day for UBC was Mackenzie Bickell who carded a birdie and an eagle en route to a +5 score of 77.
Per the NAIA's website:
After the second round, the cut will be made and the Round 3 Pairings will be established. The cut will be the Top 17 teams and Top 40 individuals including ties for both. If Individuals are in the Top 40 and on a team in the Top 17, they will be removed from the individual competition. The removed individuals will not be backfilled.
Day 3 competition begins Thursday at 9:00 am P.T. from Mesa, AZ. You can follow along with the live stats links posted earlier in the story.